Tag Archives: events

Tonight, the Culinary Society hosts one of Columbia’s most venerated traditions: the annual erotic cake competition. In honor of Valentine’s Day, come sample an array of erotically themed cakes. We have plenty of bakers and artists working on these cakes, and the spread is bound to be both entertaining and delicious.

Come to the East Ramp Lounge at 9 pm to have your fill and vote on the best creation!

This past Tuesday, in honor of the great food holiday, the Culinary Society hosted its first ever Thanksgiving Pie Competition. Entrants from all over the Columbia and Barnard communities came out to showcase their baking skills, with pies of all different flavors. Of course, there were the classic Thanksgiving favorites, like pumpkin and apple pies, but there were also some incredible variations on the classics, like kabocha pie (a relative of pumpkin), vinegar pie (a variation on the classic Canadian “Butter Tart”) and sour cream apple pie. The complete list of entrants went as follows:

Unlike previous competitions with the Culinary Society, where a panel of judges voted on the best entrants, the Thanksgiving Pie Competition was judged by the general student body. Thanks to an ingenious idea from one of the Culinary Society’s e-boarders, the votes were recorded via text message, giving everyone with a cell phone a quick, efficient, and easy way to voice which pie was their favorite.
With 15 pies in the competition, and 60 eager judges waiting outside to get their tastes, it was a bit of a hectic evening. In all, it only took about 40 minutes for the tasters to completely devour the pies and vote on their favorites. I, for one, thought it was one of the fastest 40 minutes of my life!

Although I only got to taste a couple of the pies, the student body was extremely pleased with all of the pies. There was something for everyone: super-sweet pies, savory/less sweet pies, fruit based pies, custard pies, pies with toppings, pies with double crusts, pies with crumble tops… you get the idea. It was veritable feast of sweets.

The third place pie was the Procrastibaker’s Cranberry Apple pie. The combination of apples, almonds, and cranberries, topped with an apple cider reduction, proved to be a winning variation on an American classic.
The second place pie was Mad Foodie’s Chocolate Pecan pie. Serving this pie warm was a great idea, leaving the chocolate smooth and melted, in combination with the warm, toasted pecans. This pie was one of the firsts to go!
The grand champion of the evening was Rebecca’s Chocolate Pecan Pie. Made with chocolate, pecans and a healthy splash of Grand Marnier, this pie was quite a bit more complex than the classic pecan pie. The addition of the Grand Marnier added a citrusy sweetness that proved to be the winning component.

Although the Culinary Society ran out of funds to provide a prize for the competition, the winners, Rebecca and Emily, took this in stride. All they wanted was a simple “2-4-6-8, who do we appreciate?” cheer from the bakers and tasters, which was given enthusiastically.
This competition was a delicious and memorable success, which we hope to continue next year. However, with Thanksgiving around the corner, there’s no need to wait a year to enjoy these pies again! And even if you didn’t get to come to the competition yourself, we at the Culinary Society hope that you challenge some of your families’ classic pies with your own culinary ideas. Who knows, maybe you’ll stumble upon a fabulous recipe to take grand prize next year!

Midterms are almost over, and we are in need of some good, ol’ fashioned fun. And what better way to celebrate juvenile, simplistic, and wholesome fun than carving a pumpkin? So come in to this evening’s Culinary Society event at the Satow Room of Lerner Hall at 9:30 pm!

How is this related to the Culinary Society? Well, first off, an orange gourd is the ideal object on which to practice your knife skills and precision. Second, we’re going to be giving a quick tutorial on how to cook pumpkin seeds. Plus, pumpkins are food too (although technically not carving pumpkins).

Naturally it follows that we will be carving up pumpkins for the Halloween holiday. All supplies are included from knives to stencils (for those of you who, like me, are less artistic)–all we need are expert pumpkin carvers!

The Culinary Society Cookbook: 2010-2011, our first cookbook and photo compilation, is finally available for purchase online! To check it out, simply follow the following link: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2472966. If you have trouble with this link, go to www.blurb.com and search “Culinary Society Cookbook.” our book should be the first result.

Through the blurb website, you will be able to preview the book in full. The cookbook includes all of the past year’s events from Open Mic Night to the Blind Tasting. Recipes include favorites such as salt-baked fish, orange and lavender cupcakes, sticky date pudding, bouillabaisse, and Lamb Almighty!

Tonight (2/8) at 9 pm in the Lerner East Ramp Lounge, the Culinary Society will be hosting the return of the Erotic Cake Competition!

We have quite a line-up of contenders for the title of “Master-Baker” and I cannot wait to see what they have created for us! Our bakers will arrive with their sexy cakes at promptly 9 pm. Our judges will assess the taste, originality, and appearance (sexiness) of each cake. The three judges are Claire Bullen (Culinary Society Co-President), Amanda Tien (Food Photographer), and Easton Rivers (Model for C-Spot Magazine–you can only guess who the judge of “sexiness” is going to be…).

After our judges have a good look at each cake, there will be a free-for-all! Cake for everyone! Although the audience will not have an active part in the judging process, everyone is welcome to partake in the general feasting. And of course, you’ll have the chance to see the sexy cakes!

Tonight (2/1) at 9 pm in the Lerner East Ramp Lounge, the Culinary Society is hosting a single-origin chocolate tasting, in light of the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday. We don’t care if you’re single, if you’re in a relationship, or if it’s “complicated.” You just have to love chocolate, because we going to be eating a lot of it! We will be sampling chocolates from all over the world and learning about the origins of the chocolate. How does place of origin affect chocolate? Is chocolate from Madagascar better than Ecuadorian chocolate? Are you a dark chocolate person?

In a time dominated by the chocolate factories–Hershey’s and Nestle–it’s time to revive our appreciation and our taste buds. It was once revered by the Aztecs and Toltecs, steeped in myth and magic, and it was an expensive delicacy for many centuries. It’s time to regain the mystery that surrounds chocolate. So join us for a sweet night with CHOCOLATE! We will also be providing milk.

The Chocolates to be included for tasting are as follows:

70% African–Ivory Coast

70% Trinitario

65% Ecuadorian

61% Caribbean

33% Javanese

White Chocolate (0%) Madagascar

The event has gotten a ton of RSVPs. We would advise showing up on time to secure your place in the room (and your fair share of chocolate).

The taste of Bleu Cheese is unmistakable–the tangy yet delightfully creamy piece of dairy, an acquired taste. Many people would use the words “smelly,” “old,” and “socks” to describe the cheese. They turn up their noses and walk away in disgust.

However, those of us in the Culinary Society have a different understanding. Tonight (1/25) at 9 pm in the Lerner East Ramp Lounge, we are hosting the Stinky Cheese Tasting, featuring well-known cheeses such as Roquefort and Gorgonzola as well as lesser-known cheeses. With each cheese, we will give a short talk about how to pair the cheese with other foods and wines. No need to bring anything–Culinary Society has it covered! Just follow your nose–you’ll be sure to find us.

Tonight (11/16) at 9 pm, The Culinary Society will be hosting a ravioli class in East Campus 1604. This event is one of our many Italian Month events. Ravioli masters, Rachelle and Matt, will be leading the class. Each participant will get to work with 3 doughs (beet, semolina, and spinach) and 3 fillings (goat cheese, ricotta-sausage, and sweet potato-sage), and at the end of the class we will distribute recipes and our delicious ravioli to cook at home! (If you don’t have a stove in your dorm, you are more than welcome to use the stove in EC.)

Quick reminder that if you are in Barnard/JTS/GS, make sure to come 5 minutes early so Matt can sign you into the building.

Tomorrow night (11/12) at 8-9 pm in Lerner 569, the Rotaract Club is offering Super Tacos (by the Super Taco truck) at only $4 a plate (with a drink) or $5 a plate (which includes a drink AND chips!). The Rotaract Club is hoping to promote its International Service Trip and build awareness for La Hogar Antonia Astengo of Argentina, a children’s home for those who have suffered domestic abuse.

Tomorrow (11/9) at 9 pm in the Lerner Ramp Lounge East, the Culinary Society will be an olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting for our “Italian Month!” We just got back from shopping and we have 4 different vinegars to try and 5 different oils. Plus, we will be providing plenty of bread. (Unfortunately, we could not afford the balsamic vinegar with flecks of gold from Eataly. But that would have been cool…)

Besides the tasting, we will be providing information on the oils and vinegars. Do you ever wonder what the difference is between extra virgin olive oil and regular olive oil is? What does cold-pressed mean? Why is Modena considered the best place to produce balsamic vinegar? In addition to questions like these, we will be giving recipe suggestions and pairings.